The family of a four-year-old girl killed after a runaway tipper truck crashed into her and two cars have spoken about their loss.

Matthew Gordon and Peter Wood are due to be sentenced today nearly two years after a runaway tipper truck killed four people and injured two others in Lansdown Lane, Weston, Bath.

The 32-tonne lorry owned by Grittenham Haulage struck and killed four-year-old Mitzi Steady as she crossed a road with her gran Margaret Rogers, who suffered life-changing injuries.

The HGV loaded with aggregate then collided with two cars, killing Stephen Vaughan, 34, Philip Allen, 52 and Robert Parker, 59, and injuring Karla Brennan.

In a 23-day trial, owner and licensed operator of Grittenham Haulage, Gordon, 30, and self-employed mechanic, Wood, 55, were both found guilty on four counts of manslaughter as a result of gross negligence.

Phillip Potter, 20, who was at the wheel of the tipper truck when its brakes failed on Lansdown Lane, was acquitted of all the charges against him.

Mr Justice Brian Langstaff, the High Court judge who oversaw the trial in Bristol Crown Court, is returning to court today to sentence the guilty pair.

'Emotionally distraught'

The family of little Mitzi and Margaret have told the court how they are still struggling to cope with the loss.

Mitzi's mum and Margaret's daughter, Emmajade Steady, said: "Being asked to explain the loss of my daughter to my family is a very difficult task and I feel whatever I say will be inadequate to fully explain what it has meant to our family.

"Day to day I find it a struggle to maintain the motivation to go forward.

"I think of Mitzi so often and yearn for her constantly.

"My husband and I both try to focus on making sure that our remaining children receive the emotional and physical support that they need.

"They both miss their sister desperately and are still trying to process her loss, as we all are. Mitzi's death has meant that my daughter, Mycha, has lost her best friend, her shadow.

"Her brother has lost his sweet little sister whom he adored and who adored him.

"They have to live their life with the loss and trauma of losing their sister.

"Her love, laughter and singing which delighted us all, no longer fills every corner of our home.

"My husband and I are heartbroken that Mitzi will not get to live her life to the fullest, a life she loved with a vibrance and enthusiasm, bringing such joy to all who knew her.

"We are devastated that our bright, lively, beautiful, vibrant, outgoing little girl will never have her first day at school, learn to read, have best friends to giggle and play with ... the list is endless.

"We are bereft and emotionally distraught to be without our child.

"I still find it difficult to sleep and accept that Mitzi has died. That I can no longer hold her and protect her. That she had to suffer such a sudden, traumatic, senseless death.

"That I was not there with her and cannot be with my beautiful girl now."

Stopped work

Emmajade stopped work to support her mother and her other children.

She added: "My mother spent almost three months in hospital.

"She was unable to move into the house we had helped her to buy and it had to be sold. She is no longer able to care on a daily basis for our children, and feels the loss of time with them keenly.

"Her life has completely changed.

"She has needed a great deal of care and support, and has been on medication to date to deal with the pain resulting from her injuries.

"Emotionally she has struggled with the loss of her youngest grandchild whom she loved and cared for.

"In addition she has had to cope with survivor's guilt and also the loss of her life as she knew it.

"Even simple things take planning and effort that was not necessary prior to the accident.

"She is no longer able to run around and play robustly with the children and, for someone who is by nature outdoor loving and very active, it has been a difficult and painful transition both physically and emotionally.

"She is still traumatised by the accident and has trouble sleeping; she is also very fearful of roads and traffic in general and crossing any road causes her a high level of anxiety.

"She has spent many months learning to walk again on prosthetics and has required regular physiotherapy to deal with her injuries and strengthen her body once more to enable her to manage the increased physical challenge of walking with prosthetics.

"She is only walking at all due to her strength of character and sheer determination."